top of page
Akosua Biraa

want to be free from sorrow








follow the words on the page

forget all you have ever thought about yourself

fundamentally interested in oneself

no fear is capable of great love


so much anxiety, misery and conflict

because we are afraid of being nobody

the centre creates the space between

person

and person

|

a scratch on the mind


one pleasure dominating all other pleasure

favorite game of escape

be free of this incessant demand

must die—

not physically but psychologically


thought conditions all our action

free the mind from its dependence

no seeking, no asking, no desire, no — thing

that discovery will be your own


talking of complete freedom

inaction is complete action

our relationship with the world

that is all that matters —


your life






This piece is composed solely out of phrases taken randomly from Jiddu Krishnamurti’s (1969/2010) classic text, “Freedom from the Known”, as published by Rider Books.


In this gem of a book, Krishnamurti tells us that the first thing to learn is the importance of not seeking anything in life—be that wealth, knowledge and/or enlightenment. The second thing, he argues is to always make an effort to know thyself, since self-knowledge is the beginning of wisdom. Beyond these two significant considerations, Krishnamurti also insists that we gravitate towards our own freedom from all authority, including that of our personal longings, pleasures, and agonies. These are only a few of the precious nuggets of wisdom shared in Krishnamurti’s contemplation on freedom.


I started reading an e-copy of this book, but got to a point where I just knew that I had to have a hard copy to make notes in the margins. So, I found me a copy in one of Ghana’s finest book shops, Vidya Bookstore, where I also bought me a copy of Krishnamurti's (1971/2014) “The Flight of the Eagle.” Best buys ever!




Comments


bottom of page